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by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.
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Suggested Books for Better Understanding the Nature of and Best Paths to Happiness

Friday June 19, 2009

In recent weeks, I've offered a series of essays on REAL wellness in general and happiness in particular. Happiness is one of several vital skill areas for a high quality of life.

In response to the series on happiness, many visitors have requested book references on happiness. Here are my recommendations. I could not rank my favorites, since each of the following are exceptionally good in describing different aspects of the nature and approaches to the experience of more happiness in everyday life. So, I offer a list alphabetized by author last names.

Ben-Shahar, Tal. Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment.
Dali-Lama. The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living.
Diener, Ed. Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth.
Emmons, Henry. The Chemistry of Joy.
Foster, Rick and Hicks. The 9 Choices of Happy People.
Gilbert, Daniel. Stumbling on Happiness.
Haidt, Jon. The Happiness Hypothesis.
Holden, Robert. Happiness Now!: Timeless Wisdom for Feeling Good FAST.
Johnson, Jim. Finding Happiness in a Frustrating World.
Lyubomirsky, Sonja. The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want.
McCullough, Mitchell and Emmons, Robert. The Psychology of Happiness.
Myers, David G. The Pursuit of Happiness.
Ricard, Mattieu. Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill.
Seligman, Martin. Authentic Happiness.
Shimoff, Marci. Happy for No Reason: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out.
Spiegelman, Willard. Seven Pleasures.
Stevens, Tom G. You Can Choose to Be Happy.
Worthington, Everett. Five Steps to Forgiveness.
Yalom, Irving. Existential Psychotherapy.

Naturally, you will find in these books a great deal of elaboration on all of the ideas I expressed in the series of essays. My reports were inspired and informed by the research and conclusions about happiness offered in these seminal works. Of course, there is more, much more in the books.

Personally, I was disappointed to learn that none of the writers associated fitness and happiness, nor did any refer to studies that made this connection. Perhaps persistent fatigue might get in the way of happiness. Or, maybe fit and healthy people just take exceptional well-being for granted and don't make the association. Yet another possible reason why fitness and happiness are not linked is the measure of misery required to stay really fit, as in top competitive form! Really—all that sweating and heavy breathing day after day—that's hard labor. The results may make you happy, but the work of becoming and staying fit is hard, and hard work and happiness do not go together for some, if not most, people.

Enjoy. Be well and always look on the bright side of life.

Domain: physical
Subdomain: emotional intelligence

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